Structural and Enhanced Optical Properties of Stabilized γ‒Bi₂O₃Nanoparticles: Effect of Oxygen Ion Vacancies

• Main Authors: Ashish Chhaganlal Gandhi, Chia-Liang Cheng, Sheng Yun Wu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
• Series: Nanomaterials
• Subjects: γ–Bi2O3; nanoparticles; metastable; Raman scattering; x-ray diffraction; oxygen vacancies
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/6/1023
• ISSN: 2079-4991

We report the synthesis of room temperature (RT) stabilized γ–Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles (NPs) at the expense of metallic Bi NPs through annealing in an ambient atmosphere. RT stability of the metastable γ–Bi₂O₃ NPs is confirmed using synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. γ–Bi₂O₃ NPs exhibited a strong red-band emission peaking at ~701 nm, covering 81% integrated intensity of photoluminescence spectra. Our findings suggest that the RT stabilization and enhanced red-band emission of γ‒Bi₂O₃ is mediated by excess oxygen ion vacancies generated at the octahedral O(2) sites during the annealing process.